In today's data-driven world, having accurate and up-to-date information is crucial for businesses to succeed. This is particularly true for ecommerce companies, where product data is the cornerstone of their operations.
Unfortunately, maintaining the accuracy of this data can be a challenging and time-consuming task. The consequences of poor data quality can be dire, with research showing that companies suffer an average yearly cost of $15 million due to inaccurate information.
In this article, we'll explore the importance of ecommerce product data cleansing and how businesses can achieve data accuracy to minimize costs and maximize their operational efficiency.
What is ecommerce product data cleansing?
Ecommerce product data cleansing is the process of cleaning and standardizing the product data in an ecommerce system to ensure accuracy, consistency, and completeness. This can involve tasks such as removing duplicates, correcting incorrect or missing information, and transforming data into a uniform format.
The ultimate goal of product data cleansing is to provide customers with accurate, complete and consistent product information across the ecommerce platform. For example, consider an ecommerce platform that sells shoes. During the process of data cleansing, the platform would check for things like incorrect product names, missing product descriptions, inconsistent product categories, and duplicate product listings.
In addition, the platform would then correct or remove any errors and standardize the information, ensuring that all product listings for "Nike Air Jordan 1" shoes have the same product name, description, and category, and that there are no duplicates. This leads to a better user experience for customers, as they can easily find the products they are looking for and have confidence in the product information they receive.
How can ecommerce businesses keep their product data clean and up-to-date over time?
Product data cleansing in ecommerce involves a set of procedures to maintain the accuracy and consistency of product information. The following are the steps involved in product data cleansing:
1. Data Collection: The first step is to collect data from various sources such as product catalogs, databases, and spreadsheets.
2. Data Auditing: In this step, the collected data is audited to identify and correct errors, duplicates, and inconsistencies.
3. Data Standardization: This step involves standardizing the data by converting it into a consistent format. For example, standardizing product names, descriptions, and categories.
4. Data Enrichment: In this step, additional information is added to the data to make it more comprehensive and useful, such as product images, specifications, and customer reviews.
5. Data Validation: The data is validated to ensure that it meets the quality standards set for the ecommerce business. This includes checking for missing or incorrect information, and making necessary corrections.
6. Data Maintenance: Regular monitoring and updating of the product data is necessary to keep it up-to-date and accurate. This involves updating product information, correcting errors, and removing outdated products.
By implementing these procedures, e-commerce businesses can keep their product data clean, accurate, and up-to-date, improving the customer experience and reducing the risk of errors and inconsistencies.
What are the key metrics to measure the success of ecommerce product data cleansing efforts?
Measuring the success of ecommerce product data cleansing efforts requires tracking key metrics. These are the metrics you need to regularly monitor and improve to ensure your product data is of high quality:
Data Accuracy
This metric measures the percentage of accurate product information in your ecommerce database. This includes product details such as names, descriptions, images, prices, and product specifications. High accuracy helps to build trust with customers and reduce returns and customer complaints.
Data Consistency
This metric ensures that product information is consistent across all platforms and channels, including your website, mobile app, and marketplaces. Consistent product information enhances customer experience and reduces confusion and frustration.
Data Completeness
This metric evaluates how much of the relevant information is available for each product in your database. The more complete the product information, the more informed customers can be in making purchasing decisions.
Data Standardization
This metric ensures that product information is standardized and follows a uniform format. Standardization helps to improve data accuracy, consistency, and search optimization.
Data Duplication
This metric measures the percentage of duplicate product records in your database and tracks the progress of reducing it. Duplicate records can lead to confusion, decreased search accuracy, and reduced customer trust.
Data Freshness
This metric tracks the frequency and timeliness of product information updates. Fresh product information can improve customer engagement and reduce the number of out-of-stock items.
Search Optimization
This metric monitors the improvement in product search results and product page visibility. Improved search optimization can increase customer engagement, reduce bounce rates, and increase conversion rates.
User Experience
This metric tracks user feedback and engagement with the product pages to gauge the impact of data cleansing efforts on the user experience. Improved user experience can lead to increased customer satisfaction, repeat business, and positive word-of-mouth.
Conversion Rate
This metric monitors the improvement in conversion rates and sales to determine the impact of improved product information on customer buying decisions. Improved conversion rates can result in increased revenue and profitability.
What are the best tools for ecommerce product data cleansing?
The following tools can play a critical role in maintaining the quality and accuracy of your product data, which is essential for driving sales and customer satisfaction in the ecommerce industry:
- Data quality tools, such as Talend and Informatica, that can automate data validation and standardization processes.
- Data cleansing and normalization tools, such as Diffbot and SEMrush, that can help identify and correct inaccuracies in product information.
- Data enrichment tools, such as Bing Ads Intelligence and Google Keyword Planner, that can enhance product data with additional details and keywords.
- Duplicate detection tools, such as Dedupe.io and DataRobot, that can identify and remove duplicate product listings from your database.
- Data migration tools, such as Hevo and Talend, that can efficiently transfer product data from one platform to another.
What are the common challenges in ecommerce product data cleansing and how to overcome them?
Product data cleansing can be a challenging process as it involves identifying and fixing errors and inconsistencies in the data. In this section, we will discuss common challenges in ecommerce product data cleansing and ways to overcome them:
Inconsistent formatting
To address this, standardize product data fields, utilize data validation and mapping tools, and perform regular checks for accuracy.
Duplicate records
To avoid this, assign unique identifiers to each product, implement deduplication tools, and monitor for duplicates on a regular basis.
Incomplete information
Keep product data updated, use scraping and enrichment tools to fill in missing information, and make sure all data fields are completed when adding new products.
Outdated information
Stay up-to-date with product information by regularly updating data, using automatic updating tools, and keeping track of the last update date.
Incorrect information
Regularly review product data, use validation tools to identify errors, and establish a data governance process to ensure accuracy.
Missing images and descriptions
To resolve this, keep product data up-to-date, utilize scraping and enrichment tools to complete missing information, and make sure all data fields are completed when adding new products.
How does ecommerce product data cleansing improve website performance and customer experience?
Having an ecommerce product data cleansing helps your store improve its website performance and customer experience. Here’s how:
Better website search
Clean product data ensures that all product information is accurate, consistent, and up-to-date, making it easier for customers to find what they're looking for. This can lead to improved search results and better navigation, resulting in a better overall experience for the customer.
Enhanced product presentation
Accurate and complete product data can also help create a better presentation of products on the website. This can include great product descriptions, images, and specifications, leading to a more informed purchasing decision for the customer.
Increased conversions
Clean product data can improve the accuracy of product recommendations and other personalized marketing efforts. This leads to increased customer confidence in the products they purchase and can result in higher conversion rates.
Improved website speed and functionality
An ecommerce website with clean product data is less likely to experience technical issues and slowdowns, as product data is less likely to cause conflicts or slow down the website. This results in a smoother and faster customer experience.
How can ecommerce businesses leverage data cleansing to drive sales and increase revenue?
Ecommerce businesses can use data cleansing to improve their sales and increase revenue by making sure their customer data is accurate and up-to-date.
For example, if an ecommerce business has incorrect or outdated customer addresses, they may have trouble delivering products to their customers, which could result in negative reviews and lost sales. By cleansing their data to remove these inaccuracies, the business can ensure that their products are delivered correctly and on time, which can lead to increased customer satisfaction and repeat business.
Additionally, data cleansing can also help ecommerce businesses better understand their customers by providing them with accurate information about their demographics, purchasing habits, and preferences. This information can be used to create targeted marketing campaigns and personalized product recommendations, which can increase the likelihood of customers making a purchase and increase overall sales.
What are the benefits of outsourcing ecommerce product data cleansing to a third-party service provider?
For small businesses, hiring an in-house staff to perform product data cleansing is not a cost-effective solution. That’s why to outsource this function to a reliable outsourcing vendor and reap the following benefits:
Cut on staffing costs
When you outsource data cleansing services to a third-party service provider, you can save on the costs associated with hiring and training in-house staff to perform the task. This includes salaries, benefits, and other employment-related costs.
Improve data accuracy
Service providers specialize in data scrubbing services and have the tools and expertise to ensure that the data is accurate, consistent, and up-to-date. This reduces the risk of errors and inaccuracies in the data, which can lead to incorrect business decisions and decreased customer satisfaction.
Save on time
Outsourcing the task of ecommerce product data cleansing frees up internal resources to focus on core business activities, improving efficiency and productivity. This allows companies to allocate their resources to tasks that are critical to their success and growth.
Scale up quickly
Service providers have the resources and capacity to handle large volumes of data and can easily scale their services to accommodate growth. This ensures that companies have the necessary support to manage their data as their business grows.
Enhance data quality
Service providers use advanced technology and processes to cleanse data, improving data quality and reducing errors. This leads to better decision-making, increased customer satisfaction, and improved business outcomes.
Access to specialized skills
Service providers often have expertise in specific industries, such as ecommerce, and can provide valuable insights and recommendations. This helps companies stay up-to-date with the latest best practices and trends in the industry.
Reduce risks of data breaches
Outsourcing reduces the risk of data breaches and other security incidents, as service providers typically have robust security measures in place. This protects sensitive customer and business information and helps companies maintain their reputation and customer trust.
Enhance Your Data Cleansing Operations by Outsourcing Customer Care
Elevate your e-commerce operations by outsourcing customer care to a trusted and reliable service provider who can give you insights that can boost your product data cleansing efforts.
At ManilaPros, we offer full-service, five-star customer care for retailers, which involves providing you with critical feedback and insights, essential for maintaining accurate, consistent, and up-to-date product data. We'll also provide you with customer support agents who went through specialized on-brand training and a rigorous certification process to ensure that you'll get the highest quality of customer service.
Book a call with us today to get started.
